Forgiveness of others and subsequent health and well-being in mid-life: a longitudinal study on female nurses

Abstract

Background Forgiveness is a concept of growing interest within psychology and of potential relevance to public health. While there has been increasing evidence suggesting positive associations between forgiveness of others and a range of psychosocial well-being and mental health outcomes, its associations with health behaviors and physical health are less clear. Methods This study used longitudinal data from the Nurses’ Health Study II (2008 Trauma Exposure and Post-traumatic Stress Supplementary Survey to 2015 questionnaire wave, N = 54,703), to conduct an outcome-wide analysis among a cohort of female nurses in the United States (age range: 43–64 years). The study prospectively examines the association between spiritually motivated forgiveness of others and a number of of subsequent psychosocial well-being, mental health, health behavior, and physical health outcomes in midlife. A set of linear, logistic, and Poisson regression models were used to regress each outcome on forgiveness in separate models. Sociodemographic factors, prior religious service attendance, and prior values of all outcome variables were controlled for wherever data were available. To account for multiple testing, we performed Bonferroni correction. Results Forgiveness was associated with subsequent improved psychosocial well-being and reduced psychological distress outcomes in a monotonic pattern. For instance, the top versus bottom level of forgiveness was associated with substantially higher levels of subsequent positive affect (β = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.21) and social integration (β = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.17), and was inversely associated with several indicators of subsequent psychological distress such as depressive symptoms (β = − 0.16, 95% CI: − 0.19, − 0.14). However, in this sample, there was little evidence that forgiveness was associated with health behaviors or physical health outcomes. Discussion This study suggests that forgiveness may be a health asset for promoting population mental health and psychosocial well-being, and moreover may also be understood as a good in itself. Further investigation on the dynamics between forgiveness and physical health is warranted to explore the discrepancy between the results here and some past research.

The Mediating Role of Forgiveness and Self-Efficacy in the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Treatment Motivation Among Malaysian Male Drug Addicts

“…Therefore, an introduction of a positive element, such as forgiveness, may help in alleviating negative feelings, thereby reducing the probability of drug use as a coping mechanism, and may further help in increasing their motivation to engage in treatment. Moreover, in addition to the positive effects of forgiveness on psychological and physical wellbeing as having been supported by previous research ( Toussaint et al, 2016 ; Long et al, 2020 ), forgiveness is as well considered an effective element to cope with maltreatment experiences in the context of trauma ( Freedman and Enright, 2017 ). Taken together, the literature supported the positive effect of forgiveness on one’s wellbeing, which is consistent with the present findings indicating its full mediating role in the association between childhood maltreatment and treatment motivation among drug addicts.…”

“…Moreover, several studies have pointed out the use of the drug as a coping mechanism to eliminate the overwhelming negative emotions in drug addicts ( Baker et al, 2004 ; Webb et al, 2006 ; Blevins et al, 2014 ). In view of the association between drug abuse, negative emotions, and treatment failure; forgiveness, which was well supported by literature to demonstrate a significant relationship with mental wellbeing and positive emotional states ( Ricciardi et al, 2013 ; Raj et al, 2016 ; Toussaint et al, 2016 ; Long et al, 2020 ), has been hypothesized and proven to play a role in addiction and recovery ( Worthington et al, 2006 ; Scherer et al, 2011 ).…”

The Importance, Opportunities, and Challenges of Empirically Assessing Character for the Promotion of Flourishing

“…Numerous studies now indicate that there are in fact a number of important aspects of character that can be at least partially helpfully assessed (Wright et al, 2020). Recent research from rigorous longitudinal studies has given evidence that various aspects of character predict subsequent health, educational, and well-being outcomes (Chen et al, 2019; Gander et al, 2020; Long, Kim, et al, 2020; Long, Worthington, et al, 2020; Tang et al, 2019; Węziak-Białowolska et al, 2021), even when controlling for these same health and well-being measures at baseline. Even our relatively crude measures can be powerful indicators of how an individual’s life might play out.…”

“…In any case, a helpful step forward, especially when attempting to incorporate character items into large longitudinal cohort studies, as described further later, might be the compilation of single-item character assessments for which there is evidence that they satisfy criteria (a) to (c) mentioned earlier. Of the character items from our recent longitudinal well-being study (Chen et al, 2020; Lee et al, 2021; Węziak-Białowolska et al, 2021), the only one we would unhesitatingly put forward for more general use would be: “I always act to promote good in all circumstances, even in difficult and challenging situations.” Another single-item character assessment, for which there is some empirical evidence that criteria (a) to (c) are satisfied, is for forgiveness: “I have forgiven those who hurt me” (Chen et al, 2019; Long, Worthington, et al, 2020). More research should be devoted to using longitudinal studies to identify the most promising individual character items.…”

“…Even with what little character data is presently available, because of the richness of the other information in these cohort studies, a great deal can be accomplished. Examples in the aforementioned cohort studies include research oriented toward understanding the determinants of, or the effects of, forgiveness (Chen et al, 2019; Long, Worthington, et al, 2020), hope (Long, Kim, et al, 2020), and volunteering (Kim et al, 2020). Such studies help us to better understand what forms character; such studies also help highlight the importance of character.…”